McDonald's football: Mike Williams, John Snyder have spirited passion for the game

Notre Dame's Williams, Palmerton's Snyder overcome obstacles to get most out of themselves.

June 20, 2013|By Tom Housenick, Of The Morning Call

Mike Williams took a knee to the neck from Northampton County teammate Matt Mowed of Easton late in the fourth quarter of Thursday's 43rd annual McDonald's All-Star Football Classic.

Williams' back started to spasm. His shoulder was throbbing, too. He lay on the turf at Nazareth's Andrew Leh Stadium in serious pain for a few moments.

"I never had anything happen like that before," the Notre Dame-Green Pond graduate said. "I was like, What's going on?"

Williams felt fine a short time later and even better when Northampton (Gold) finished off a 13-8 victory over the Lehigh-Carbon-Monroe (Red) counties team.

That pain Williams felt was nothing compared to what he's been dealing with since birth.

He was born with two club feet and told he would never play sports.

His size didn't allow him to try football until ninth grade, but the 6-foot-6, 285-pound lineman refused to take no for an answer.

He was a three-year starter at Notre Dame after transferring from Belvidere, N.J.

"I'm happy I'm standing now and off to the next part of my life," he said.

Williams is headed to Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., in August to continue living out a dream.

For the Red, Palmerton's John Snyder was born with a body that would max out at 5-foot-10, but it didn't stop him from being a stellar lineman.

His passion for the game at age 5, when he started playing flag football.

But the real fun started when contact was allowed.

"I get to hit people and not get in trouble," Snyder said.

Despite Palmerton's woes in 2012, Snyder was a menace each week to opposing teams. The nose guard was among the Colonial League's top tacklers with more than 100.

He added to that total Thursday night.

"No other sport comes close," he said. "I train all year for football."

Williams and Snyder, who will play at Moravian, were their respective teams' winners of the annual Spirit Awards, announced before the game.

"Nights like this make it worth it," Snyder said of all the hard work in the weight room. "The outcome wasn't the best, but I played well."

Snyder credits Parkland grad Ryan Dupre with giving him good training sessions the last two weeks.

"He is the best center I've ever played against," Snyder said. "We made each other better."

Northampton (Gold) got the better of things Thursday by using a 37-yard touchdown burst by Phillipsburg's Alex Martin and the 31-yard scoring pass from Wilson quarterback Ryan Dailey to Nazareth's Anthony Gaettaniello for all of its scoring.

Northampton appeared in trouble when Lehigh-Carbon-Monroe appeared to recover a fumble and return it to the Northampton 6-yard line in the game's final minutes, but an illegal defensive stunt called the play back.

There also was a near scuffle in the game's final three minutes in front of the Northampton bench, but cooler heads and an officials-mandated timeout calmed things down.

Williams wakes up every day in pain from both club feet, but he uses ice and heat — no pills — to get around.

Motivation to succeed pushes him through each day.

"Coach [Chuck] Muller has faith in me and that has helped me a lot," Williams said. "This is my dream. I'm going to take it as far as I can. I'm going to play the next four years at Assumption and, hopefully, that takes me to the NFL."

Snyder, who benches 365 pounds and squats 510, will go back to the weight room this summer as he tries to tone his 260-pound frame in time for college camp.

"I'm trying not to add more fat," he said. "I'm not much of a dieter."

What he and Williams have become are tireless workers who refuse to take no for an answer.

"I may walk with a limp, but I'm going to hit you pretty hard," Williams said.